Cyber canines: NYC tosses paper licensing system

August 4, 2008 1:27:25 PM PDT

Eyewitness News

NEW YORK --

No more excuses about Fido eating the paperwork - New York City dog licenses will now be offered online. Dog owners - who used to have to do the whole thing by paper and the mail - will be able to go through the process at www.nyc.gov.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has two Labradors named Bonnie and Clyde, says he hopes offering the process online will make life easier for dog lovers. Licenses will still be available through the paper system.

The city says the wait time for new licenses and renewals will now be cut in half, to about 10 days instead of a month.

Officials are also hoping that this streamlined service will get more dogs licensed. Just 20 percent of the city's estimated half a million dogs are registered.